The Telling of the Silverguard
by gryphonic medli
Summary: This is the untold legend of the shin'a'in clan of Wolf. Their rise to riches and their fall to a bestial curse. i suck at summaries. read and find out...


medli: wow. this is a really old story that i wrote. i was digging around in some of my stuff and i found it and thought 'hmm... why not post it? there IS a mercedes lackey section...' so, i posted it! )

Disclaimer: i don't own the shin'a' in or any of their world. it all belongs to mercedes lackey. the only thing i own is this story and my muses who helped me think of it. but don't tell them that... they'll go on strike... and that would suck.

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The Telling of the Silverguard 

"Among the native peoples of the Dhorisha plains, there are many tales of how things came to be the way they are. None, though, are as famous as the tale of the Silverguard.

Not long ago, there was a clan called Wolf. They were a poor clan, but this did not bother them. They got everything they needed from the land and were content. As long as they remembered to pray and respect to their Goddess of the Moon, they were blessed with good hunting and a bountiful harvest.

The Moon Goddess was an odd aspect of the Star-eyed, who watched over all the clans. The others, Lizard, Grasscat, Hawk, and Horse, all knew of this aspect but She only appeared to those of the Wolf clan.

The Wolf were settled for the dry season beside a tall cliff with a beautiful waterfall that plunged over its side to crash on the boulders at its base. As it happened, bandits had claimed this territory only a month before and had stashed their stolen silver behind the falls and left in search of more. The clan did not know this, so they were greatly surprised when one of the youngest members found a beautiful necklace caught between the rocks near the waterfall.

The shaman, wise-man and sorcerer, removed the boulders with his magic and revealed a vast network of caves it delved deep into the cliff-side and held a cache of silver worthy of a king.

The clan Elders and the shaman quickly called a council to decide what to do with their newly-discovered riches. Now, the shaman had received a message from the goddess in his dreams the night before, warning him away from the secret of the falls. He had not understood then, but now he knew. He tried to persuade the elders that the silver would only bring calamity and destruction, but their hearts had been captured by greed. They eventually grew tired of his warnings and told him to either be silent or be removed form the council. That would have been the greatest dishonor, so he gave in with a heavy heart and remained quiet for the rest of the meeting. Soon after, he took to roaming the woods at the top of the cliff at night, lamenting his weakness.

Wolf clan quickly became the richest of the clans. However, with their newfound wealth came enemies as well. The Silverguard was formed to protect the precious silver and was made up of only the best fighters, men and women. To be accepted into the guard was the highest honor a warrior of the clan could receive. The cliff-side camp became the base for the Guard and the Council of Elders; the rest of the people of the Wolf lived in a quickly growing settlement barely a league away called Silver City. People came from the edges of faraway kingdoms to trade for the beautiful goods.

Several months after the discovery, the brigands whose silver it was heard of this city of riches and realized what had happened. They were furious. They hired a powerful sorcerer to help them and began building a plan to get back the treasure they'd lost. Finally, after several days, they were ready. They would attack the Silverguard, distracting them while the mage prepared a spell to transport all of the silver into a hold the bandits had built.

Under the cover of a lazy, autumn night, the bandits made their move. The entire guard was quickly engaged in battle and all of the Elders slain; all but the shaman. He was walking above the falls when he heard the shouts and screams from below. He ran to the edge of the cliff to see what was going on and, there, met the bandits' sorcerer. Realizing what had happened, he attacked the invader.

The shaman was a powerful mage himself and the battle lasted until dawn. However, he was old and tired from his many sleepless nights spent walking in the woods. He knew that if he did no o something soon, he would die and the sorcerer would live and the Silverguard would fail.

He did not actually care about the silver itself, remembering what the goddess had said about it bringing calamity. But, he knew that if they were to succeed here, the brigands would not stop until all of their treasure had been reclaimed and would not hesitate to kill anyone in their way. He did not want to be responsible for a massacre that could be prevented.

In an act of desperation, he gathered his remaining power, drawing upon his very life force, preparing for a final strike that would kill the enemy sorcerer but take his life as well. Then he called on the goddess, who still shone brightly in the dim light of dawn, to help him. He loosed the power and, at the last moment, She intervened.

The blast, which had only been meant for the two men, became a great wave of pure magical power that was felt for many leagues around by anyone who had even a drop of magical Talent in their blood. After the blast, it rained for nearly two weeks. When people from nearby villages finally got up the courage to investigate, the scene that greeted them disturbed them greatly. The area around the waterfall encampment was completely dry as if there had been a dome over it, sheltering it from the rain. There were no bodies and the weapons of the fighters looked as though they had been dropped in mid-battle and not taken up again. There was not even a single footprint or splash of blood on the ground, though people had certainly died; the evidence was all over the weapons. Other that that, there was no sign at all that people had ever been there. All of the large buildings were still there but there was noting inside them; no clothes, food, beds, or any other signs of humanity. And the silver, all of the precious silver, was gone as well. News came from Silver City not long after. The same thing had happened there.

In later years, people tried to re-settle the area but the land would not produce any healthy crops, though it rained long and often. Magic did not work reliably either, and people had a hard time trying to keep their animals anywhere within a mile of the falls. All of the wild game avoided the area as well, so hunters came back empty handed more often than not. Also, large wolves were rumored to have been seen roaming the streets at night, sniffing at doors and howling at the sky from the top of the cliff. After only a single season, the area was abandoned entirely, leaving behind the mystery of Silver City and the Silverguard.

Some say the goddess destroyed the Guard along and their enemies so utterly that nothing was left. Most say, though, that they were turned into two packs of great wolves and are cursed to remain that way, hating and fighting each other until their day of redemption. That is why one pack howls at the moon, lamenting the change and the decision that caused it, and the other goes searching through the streets for the lost treasure. They will never find it, though, because the goddess took it and spread it out in the sky where it shines among the stars for all to see and enjoy."

"But, great-Grandma, I've never heard of anyone seeing wolves that big before. How do they hide if they're that big?"

"Well, it's said that they learned how to alter their shapes and often take human form to disguise themselves and live normal lives. But, on nights of the full moon, they gather above the waterfall by their home to remember their folly and plead to the goddess to forgive them."

"Why did the goddess curse them? I thought She was supposed to be forgiving?"

"I do not pretend to know the minds of the gods, but I believe it was because She was angry that Her children did not listen to her and became greedy and selfish. She cursed them to teach them a lesson and afterwards was very sad. The rain that followed the transformation was Her tears for Her changed children."

"If it wasn't that long ago, were you alive when it happened? Did you feel the magic wave?"

"Yes, I was. Hmm… it was about ninety years ago, so I was about four then."

"Can you tell if someone's a wolf?"

"I don't think so dear. I don't think so." She turned her head to face the sky, remembering times long past and the sparkle of the necklace as she pulled it from the rocks; remembering how it had shimmered like a beautiful condemnation.

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gryph: hey, medli, just how old is this story anyway?  
medli: huh. i really don't know, exactly.  
gryph: didn't you use it for that astronomy project back in like, 7th grade?  
medli: holy damn! i did, didn't i? so, i think i wrote this in 6th, cuz i remember digging for it then, too... so, that would make me about 11-ish when i wrote this?  
gryph: wow! i can't believe you were reading medcedes lackey way back then!  
medli: i never really thought about it before... but now that i am, i remember being one of the only ones in my english class to ever have any books that were over 150 pages... haha! i think i frustrated my teacher cuz we had these weekly reading check-in things and we only had to read 100 pages or something each week and i think i read that much in a day or two... haha!  
gryph: -sweatdrop- bookworm...  
medli: SO?! if i weren't, then you would have never EXISTED! so, there! -sticks out tongue-  
gryph: OKAYOKAY!! i never said there was anything wrong with it!  
medli: bah... anyway... i hope people liked this. seeing as it's rather old, i know it's not that good either. but, hey, it's my opinion that every writer's gotta have at least one dud in their career... if they don't then they're GODS!!  
gryph: you know the drill people! read and review please! we love reviews!  
medli: i don't love reviews! I LIVE FOR THEM! they are food for my starving writer's soul, yeah! feeeed meeee...!  
gryph: er, yeah. feed her please before she dies of soul-starvation...


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